Ch. 2: The Ballad
Songs Featured:
'Meadowlark' by Liz Callaway
'Lean On Me' by Bill Withers
•
"So what are we doing for the kids today?" I asked William. He smiled at me mischievously, saying, "Take a guess." I gasped in excitement. " Ballads?" I said knowingly. "You know me so well." He said with a smile. We entered the classroom and I wrote Ballad on the whiteboard while he spoke. "Ballad. From Middle English, balade. Who knows what this word means?" He said. "It's a male duck." Brittany Pierce said. "Kurt." I called. "A ballad is a love song." He said. "Sometimes, but they don't always express love. Ballads are stories set to music—which is why they're the perfect storm of self-expression. Stories and music are the way we express feelings that we can't get out any other way. Okay, now, sectionals are in a few weeks and there's a new rule this year– we have to perform… a ballad." William explained. "Looks like my weekly letter to the Ohio Show Choir Committee finally paid off!" Rachel said excitedly. "Okay. So here's our assignment for the week: I'm going to pair you off, and I want you to pick a ballad to sing to your partner. Look them right in the eye, find the emotion you want to express, and make them feel it." Will said. "I pick Quinn." Finn quickly said. "No, no, no. Too easy. Your partners will be chosen by fate." Will said. "Ooh!" All the kids said. "Ooh, yeah. I put all your names in this hat. Whoever you choose is your partner." Will explained. Then Brittany said, " I bet the duck's in the hat." That made me snicker a little. "But Matt's out sick today. He had to go to the hospital, 'cause they found a spider in his ear." Santana Lopez said. "Um… I guess I'll just have to put my name in the hat for now." Will said. "Who's up first? Ladies and gentlemen step right up, don't be shy; first come first serve!" I chanted. The kids laughed and then Puckington, or Puck, came up to pull a name out of a hat. "Mercedes." I nodded and Will said approvingly, "All right." Artie came up and pulled out a name. "Quinn," he said. Finn came up and read aloud, "Kurt." The Glee kids laughed and Finn said, "Mr. Schue, I don't know if I can do this with another guy." Will smiled mischievously and said, "The fates have spoken, Finn." I felt bad for Finn. Tina Cohen-Chang walked up. "Other Asian." She said almost making me burst out laughing. Then Santana came up and gasped in excitement, saying, "Brittany." Will smiled at me and said, "How fitting." Brittany and Santana hug and Brittany says,"Yay! No way." Then Rachel said, "Looks like I get you, Mr. Schue." Then Will said quickly, "Uh… you know what? Maybe we should just wait until Matt gets back." But then Finn said, "The fates talked, Mr. Schue." Everyone but me, Will, and young Miss Berry didn't laugh. "Would you mind clarifying what kinds of songs you want us to sing?" Artie asked. "Why don't you let Mr. Schuester and I demonstrate. Brad, 'Endless Love' in B-flat, please. It's my favorite duet." Rachel said. Quickly I intervened, saying, "Actually Rachel, William and I were planning to demonstrate one of our favorite ballads for you kids as educators, one after the other. Is that all right with you Rachel?" Looking somewhat disappointed, and incredibly frustrated, Rachel said, "I suppose as an educator, it is your job to teach these things, not mine." And with that Rachel sat down. I turned to Will and took his hands, looking into his eyes. "Ready?" He asked me. I just smiled back in response and I began to sing.
When I was a girl I had a favorite story
Of a meadowlark who lived where the river winds
Her voice could match the angels in its glory
But she was blind
The lark was blind
I looked deep into Will's eyes remembering the day we met...
An old king came and took her to his palace
Where the walls were burnished bronze and golden braid
And he fed her fruits and nuts from an ivory chalice
And then he prayed
That's when Will begins to sing with me and I remember singing with him every day on the way to school...
Sing for me my meadowlark
Sing for me of the silver morning
Set me free my meadowlark
And I'll buy you a priceless jewel
And cloth of brocade and crewel
And I'll love you for life if you will
Sing for me
Will stopped singing and I remember secretly pining over him and the despair it brought me; still I kept singing...
Then one day as the lark sang by the water
The god of the sun heard her in his flight
And her singing moved him so he came and brought her
The gift of sight
He gave her sight
And she opened her eyes to the shimmer and the splendor
Of this beautiful young god so proud and strong
And he called to the lark in a voice both rough and tender
Come along
I remember joining the Glee club with Will because of April when Will joined in again...
Fly with me my meadow lark
Fly with me on the silver morning
Past the sea where the dolphins bark
We will dance on the coral beaches
Make a feast of the plums and peaches
Just as far as your vision reaches
Fly with me
-
Will stops singing with me and I continue...
-
But the meadowlark said no
For the old king loved her so
She couldn't bear to wound his pride
So the sun god flew away
And when the king came down that day
He found his meadowlark had died
Everytime I heard that part I cried
-
I remember seeing Will kissing Terri for the first time as I sang...
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And now I stand here starry eyed and stormy
Oh just when I thought my heart was finally numb
A beautiful young man appears before me
Singing come
Oh won't you come
And what can I do if finally for the first time
The one I'm burning for returns the glow
If love has come at last, its picked the worst time
Still I know
I've got to go to go
Fly away meadowlark
Fly away on the silver morning
If I stay I'll grow to curse the dark
So it's off where the days won't find me
I know I leave wounds behind me
But I won't let tomorrow find me back this way
Before my past once again can find me
Fly away
And we won't wait to say goodbye
My beautiful young man
And I
The song ended with the last echoes of my voice and I turned away from Will and asked, "Okay, so have you learned anything?" They didn't say anything; they looked... hypnotized. "Well, what I was trying to teach you is to let your emotions fuel your voice. I was using past memories of despair to fuel me. Think of the the emotions you want others to feel by using your own." I explained.
And then the bell rang.
~•—Time Skip—•~
Rachel approached me that day about her project. She wanted to know what type of emotion she should look into conveying, so I asked her exactly how Will made her feel. "Frustrated. It's like he's trying to destroy my life." She told me. "Well I'm not sure if he's trying to destroy your life, but you should definitely focus on that frustration." I told her. She smiled and said, "Thank you Miss Iñiguez, you've been very helpful." I smiled back and said, "Please, call me María. It's either that or MC."
~•—Time Skip—•~
Rachel approached me again the next day and said, " I just wanted to thank you for the advice MC. It was very satisfactory in the completion of my assignment for this week." I smiled happily at her and said, "Yes, I love the song you chose; 'That's What You Get' by The Jackson Five, right? I could tell it totally took Will off guard." She smiled brightly and said, "I'm glad you approve. It means a lot to me. Well, we should hurry and head to the club room; I have to help the others sing Quinn and Finn a ballad. They'll be hopeless without me you know." I just laughed at her quip and followed her to the auditorium.
~•—Time Skip—•~
The Glee kids, Will, and I are waiting for Mercedes and Kurt to bring Finn into the Glee club. Quinn is already here sitting. Suddenly Mercedes and Kurt come in with Finn who has his eyes closed. "Open your eyes! I didn't tell you to close your eyes." Mercedes tells him making me smile. "Is there a cake?" Finn asked. He reminded me of a young Will. "No, there's no cake." Mercedes said. "Oh." Finn said sounding disappointed. "Be quiet and sit down." Mercedes told him, making him sit next to Quinn. "Hi, Quinn. Do you know what's going on?" He asked. "Your fellow Glee Club members want to sing a song for you guys to let you know how they feel about you." Will explained. "What are you going to sing?" Finn asked. "Just listen. The song says everything." Rachel said. Me and Will go to piano and the Glee kids begin singing 'Lean On Me' by Bill Withers. I smiled; they were amazing. Quinn and Finn even eventually stood up and dance with the rest of the glee kids as they sang.
It was beautiful.